Goddesses and Gods.wps - Welcome to Our Temple

Artemis. Once again Hera showed her jealousy by forcing Leto to roam the Earth in
search of a place to give birth, as Hera had stopped her from gaining shelter on terrafirma
or at sea. The only place she could go was to the isle of Delos in the middle of
the Aegean, the reason being that Delos was, as legend states, a floating island. One
legend says that Aphrodite was the daughter of Zeus and Dione.
Besides deities, he also fathered many mortals. In some of his human liaisons Zeus
used devious disguises. When he seduced the Spartan queen Leda, he transformed
himself into a beautiful swan, and from the egg which Leda produced, two sets of
twins were born: Castor and Polydeuces and Clytemnestra and Helen of Troy. He
visited princess Danae as a shower of gold, and from this union the hero Perseus was
born. He abducted the Phoenician princess Europa, disguised as a bull, then carried
her on his back to the island of Crete where she bore three sons: Minos,
Rhadamanthys and Sarpedon. Zeus also took as a lover the Trojan prince Ganymede.
He was abducted by an eagle sent by Zeus (some legends believe it was Zeus disguised
as an eagle). The prince was taken to Mount Olympus, where he became Zeus' cup
bearer. Zeus also used his charm and unprecedented power to seduce those he
wanted, so when Zeus promised Semele that he would reveal himself in all his
splendor, in order to seduce her, the union produced Dionysus, but she was destroyed
when Zeus appeared as thunder and lightening. Themis, the goddess of justice bore
the three Horae, goddesses of the seasons to Zeus, and also the three Moirae, known
as the Fates. When Zeus had an affair with Mnemosyne, he coupled with her for nine
consecutive nights, which produced nine daughters, who became known as the
Muses. They entertained their father and the other gods as a celestial choir on Mount
Olympus. They became deities of intellectual pursuits. Also the three Charities or
Graces were born from Zeus and Eurynome. From all his children Zeus gave man all
he needed to live life in an ordered and moral way.
Zeus had many Temples and festivals in his honor, the most famous of his sanctuaries
being Olympia, the magnificent 'Temple of Zeus', which held the gold and ivory
statue of the enthroned Zeus, sculpted by Phidias and hailed as one of the 'Seven
Wonders of the Ancient World'. Also the Olympic Games were held in his honor.
The Nemean Games, which were held every two years, were to honor Zeus. There
were numerous festivals throughout Greece: in Athens they celebrated the marriage
of Zeus and Hera with the Theogamia (or Gamelia). The celebrations were many: in
all, Zeus had more than 150 epithets, each one being celebrated in his honor.